The objective of this article is to investigate the effects of preschool participation on learning achievement and to estimate the optimal duration of preschool participation needed for pupils to perform their best in mathematics at the Grade 6 level in Uganda. The sample consisted of 2649 Grade 6 pupils, attending 82 schools across two rural districts of Iganga and Mayuge in Uganda. Understanding the relationship between duration of preschool participation and pupils’ future learning achievement is important to policies on preschool education in Uganda. Results from multilevel analyses show that preschool participation has positive impact on mathematics achievement of Grade 6 pupils. Results further showed that the positive impact of preschool on achievement seemed to level out after 2 years of preschool participation—meaning that 2 years was the optimal duration of preschool participation that was most helpful in boosting achievement. The implications of the finding to preschool education policy and practices are discussed.

中文翻译：

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学龄前参与对乌干达6年级学生数学成绩的影响

本文的目的是调查学龄前参与对学习成绩的影响，并估计学生在乌干达6年级达到最佳数学水平所需要的学龄前最佳学习持续时间。样本包括2649名6年级学生，他们在乌干达伊甘加和马尤格两个农村地区的82所学校就读。了解乌干达学前教育参与时间与学生未来学习成绩之间的关系对于乌干达学前教育政策很重要。多级分析的结果表明，学龄前儿童的参与对六年级学生的数学成绩有积极影响。结果进一步表明，学龄前儿童参与2年后，学龄前儿童对成就的积极影响似乎已趋于平缓，这意味着2年是学龄前儿童参与的最佳持续时间，这对提高成就感最有帮助。讨论了这一发现对学前教育政策和实践的影响。